Peter Pan (1953)

Peter Pan (1953)

7/10

Starring the voice of

Bobby Driscoll

Kathryn Beaumont

Hans Conried

Paul Collins

Directed by Hamilton Luske, Clyde Geronimi and Wilfred Jackson

Peter Pan is a movie created for children to love regardless of their generation. Watching this movie 15 years after what was probably the last time I saw it, I still found myself laughing every time Peter Pan took on Hook. Disney clearly arranged it all for laughs, turning Captain Hook into the butt of the joke.

My favorite character in the movie wasn’t Peter, Hook, Wendy, Wendy’s brothers, or even the Lost Boys—it was the Crocodile. I can’t get over how creative he is in trying to catch Captain Hook. My favorite moment has to be when Hook tries to jump into a boat, only for the Crocodile to push it aside and catch him in his mouth instead.

Disney’s Peter Pan was released in 1953 and is based on the 1904 play Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up and the 1911 novel by J. M. Barrie. It is the 14th film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series.

The story follows Peter Pan, a boy who can fly and refuses to grow up, living in Neverland with the Lost Boys. His companion, Tinker Bell, is a mischievous fairy. The film also features Wendy and her brothers as they learn to fly, travel to Neverland, meet mermaids, Tiger Lily, and the Native Indians, and ultimately battle Captain Hook and his pirate crew.

Disney outdid themselves with this money-spinning classic, which raked in more than 20 times its production cost—earning over $80 million at the box office. However, Peter Pan has also been a source of controversy due to its stereotyping of Native Americans. The film refers to them as “red” and compares them to hunting animals, something that would never make it past the production board today.

Peter Pan was the last Disney film in which all nine members of Disney’s Nine Old Men worked together as directing animators. It was also the final movie distributed by RKO Radio Pictures before Walt Disney founded his own distribution company, Buena Vista Distribution.

Over the years, Peter Pan has remained a classic for children and adults alike, and it’s one of my favorite Disney animations. I’d definitely recommend watching it and owning a copy—it’s the kind of movie you’ll want to revisit years later, just to see Peter and Hook go at it again. And if you’re anything like me, you’ll be watching just to see the Crocodile try to get Hook one more time.